[lwhalen]

ACE score of 7. I am ridiculously happy. I have a wife who loves me, and two (little) kids who want to be around me. A successful and fulfilling career that lets me provide for (and even spoil, sometimes) my family. Multiple side-projects/hobbies/'hustles' that I can pick up or put down at will. Life is really, fantastically, pronoia-inducingly, good. It wasn't always this way, and I owe a LOT to great teachers in my formative years (HS and some college) who encouraged me to get the hell out of the house, city, and state I grew up in, and become my own man far far away from the place and family of my birth.

I'd been on the 'gifted' track since pre-K (I was reading books without pictures by 3, for example, and had read The Hobbit in Kindergarten). I made it out (barely) of one of the worst public middle/highschool systems in the country, and got a 70%+ 4 year scholarship into one of the best. My grandparents (specifically my maternal grandmother, may she RIP) busted all kinds of ass to make up the difference. "Family drama" almost made it to where I couldn't get transport to out-of-state college at the very last minute, and my paternal grandfather (may HE RIP!) showed up out of the blue, helped me throw my things in his truck, and drove me 12 hours one-way so I could attend college (no I did not finish, and dropped out after 4 years; long story)

The fear, doubt, and insecurity of my teens led to quite a bit of learning and growing in my early/mid 20s, and it just got better from there. "Getting the hell out" was the best advice I had gotten, and I am so glad I was able to take it.

My biggest concern these days is how do I grow beyond my damaged upbringing and not just be a "neutral" force in my family's life, but a "good" one. I'd like to be around for any grandkids (shucks, maybe even GREAT grandkids if the health and longevity sciences keep doing their respective things), and a positive presence in their lives too.